Cooling-board.



O. E. WINDOM.

COOLING BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, 1912.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

COLUMBIA FLANOGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON, D4 c CHARLES E. wINDoI/r, or STERLING, ILLINOIS.

COOLING-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

Application filed July 9, 1912. Serial No. 708,462.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. \ViNDoM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sterling, in the county of IVhiteside and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling- Boards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to cooling boards, of that class which are capable of being folded into a compact space for the purpose of being transported from place to place, and is an improvement on a similar device for which Letters Patent of the United States were issued to me under date of December 28, 1909, and numbered 944,531. In devices of this class it is desirable to combine a minimum amount of material with a maximum amount of strength, so that the board will be light enough to be readily transported from one point to another, and at the same time sufiiciently strong to stand up under the work for which it is designed.

The present invention embodies a frame of simple construction, possessing a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness of operation.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a medial longitudinal section through a cooling board embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail, showing the central joint thereof, in side elevation. Fig. 3 is a similar View, in plan. Fig. 4 shows the central hinge portion, with the parts to which it is attached partially folded. Fig. 5 shows the same parts in plan view.

The main part of the frame of my device is formed of sections 1, 2, 3, and 4, the parts 1 and 2 as well as the parts 3 and 4 being pivotally united, and the parts 2 and 8 hingeably connected in the manner hereinafter set forth. Said frame is supported on legs 5, pivotally attached at their upper endsv and provided with telescopic feet 6. Such legs are held in extended position, at right angles to the frame, bymeans of upwardly folding pairs of braces 7 and 8, pivotally connected, as at a. By folding the braces upwardly the end pieces 1 and 4 can be bent downwardly and inwardly, and the parts 2 and 3 folded toward each other, until the whole frame is reduced to a compact space, the thickness of which islit-tle more than twice the width of the frame pieces. An auxiliary frame, formed of sections 9 and 10 is pivoted at its inner end to the main frame, and said frames are provided with a supporting table or board 11, also formed in sections to permit the folding of the frame. That part of the board on the auxiliary frame is provided with a head-rest 12, and said auxiliary frame is capable of being held in adjusted elevated positions by means of a toothed arm 13 engaging a pin (not shown) in the part 1 of the frame.

The parts 9 and 10 of the auxiliary frame are adapted to fold with the parts 1 and 2 when said frame is lowered into the same plane therewith.

The top 11 is preferably formed of perforated wood or material possessing a like degree of lightness and durability, and the main portions of the frame are preferably formed of metal strips, provided with an outwardly turned flange 14, giving additional strength thereto, and furnishing a means of attachment of the board 11.

On account of the weight of the body which is supported on the cooling board it is necessary to have the central joint thereof made especially strong. This is accomplished by providing the inner end of'the section 2 with a pair of plates 15 and 16, projected downwardly into knuckles 17 and 18, and the inner end of the section 3 with similar plates 19 and 20, projected downwardly into knuckles 21 and 22, the knuckles 17 and 18 and 21 and 22 having a common pintle 23. The plates 15 and 16 have off-set portions 24, and the plates 19 and 20 have similar off-set portions 25, oppositely disposed to the off-sets 24. A joint is thus produced which not only possesses great supporting power, but which also resists any tendency to lateral strain. In case a greater amount of the weight sustained on the cooling board is thrown to one side of the central joint there is danger of the board buckling or bending upwardly at that point, and to prevent this I provide a catch 26 pivoted on the inner face of the section 3, as at b, and adapted to engage a pin 27 in the end of the part 2. The catch is held normally in engagement with the pin by means of a coiled spring 28 on the pivot of said catch. As the parts 2 and 3 are brought together the pin 27 is automatically engaged by the catch 26, and the said parts locked in eX- tended position. On the brace 7, adjacent to the long end of the catch 26 is a pin 29, which engages said catch as the brace is folded upwardly, moving the long end of the catch upwardly and disengaging the same from the pin 27, permitting the folding of the board at the central joint. It is obvious that in order that the catch 26 may thus be automatically released it is necessary to first fold the sections at the foot end of the board.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

In a device of the class named, a plurality of frame sections centrally hinged at a point below the plane of said frame; supporting legs pivotally connected With said frame sections at the pivotal points thereof;

folding braces adapted to hold said legs in extended position; a catch pivoted to one of said frame sections and projected above the pivotal point of said hinge; means for engagement of said catch on the adjacent 20 CHARLES E. WINDOM.

Witnesses:

W. N. HAsKnLL, F. J. WARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

